Experts await results of more tests to learn how teen was killed

An autopsy has confirmed that the body found in a shallow grave in Lakewood Tuesday was that of Brittney Gregory, but authorities said yesterday they have not been able to determine how the 16-year-old Brick girl was killed.

The cause of death "is one of the preliminary things we are working on," Executive Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Robert Gasser said.

Because of the advanced decomposition of the body, forensic pathologists could not immediately determine the cause of death, though they did classify it as a homicide, Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher said.

Brittney, an honor student who would have begun her junior year at Brick Township Memorial High School in the fall, disappeared from her house July 11. A week later, police charged her father's friend, Jack Fuller Jr., 38, of Howell, with her murder.

Brittney, who was friends with Fuller's daughter, was last seen in Fuller's car the night she disappeared, Kelaher said.

A massive search began July 18 of wooded areas in the neighboring communities of Brick, Howell and Lakewood. On Tuesday morning, two Department of Corrections officers and a state trooper, accompanied by two dogs, discovered the shallow grave under a transmission tower in an area between Ridge Avenue and Brook Road in Lakewood, about three miles from Brittney's home.

Kelaher said the body was unclothed but showed no signs of mutilation. There were no stab wounds or gunshot wounds, but authorities were still trying to determine whether other types of wounds could have been disguised by the decomposition, Gasser said.

Atlantic County Medical Examiner Hydow Park, who conducted the autopsy, determined Brittney was dead before she was buried but was unable to establish an exact time of death, Kelaher said.

The results of tests to determine whether Brittney was sexually assaulted will not be available for several weeks. At that time, authorities may also be able to pinpoint a cause of death, Gasser said.

Positive identification was established through fingerprint comparison and dental records reviewed by Haskel Askin, a forensic odontologist.

Dozens of well-wishers stopped yesterday by an area along Ridge Avenue, not far from where the body was found. They left stuffed animals, plants and bouquets in Brittney's memory. Tacked to a blue pot of sunflowers resting on the ground was a handscrawled note that read, "Rest in Peace Britteny, Our Sweetest Angel."

Some people paused to say a prayer.

Working in the rain as they had on Tuesday, investigators returned to the scene yesterday to comb through the sand and dirt for more evidence.

"They're sifting through the immediate area to find things such as her clothes," Gasser said.

Brittney, who had been home alone for most of the day on July 11, called family members around 8:30 p.m. asking for a ride to her boyfriend's house. When the family arrived home about an hour later, Brittney was gone, but her purse, makeup and money were left behind. Brittney lived with a sister and her father, Joe Dunn. Her mother, Debra Gregory, lives in Beachwood.

Fuller, who remains jailed on $1 million bail, has a lengthy criminal record. He has been in and out of prison, serving time for theft and drug offenses. His most recent prison term ended in April 2003.

A part-time construction worker, Fuller was charged with Brittney's murder after he was secretly recorded telling a drug dealer he buried someone and was concerned the grave was too shallow, a law enforcement source has said.

Fuller's friend, Tom Long, has also told authorities that Fuller gave Brittney a ride in his car the night of July 11 while Long was also in the vehicle.